Lima Group pitches Venezuela ballot, hawks retreat

The Lima Group of countries that support a democratic transition in Venezuela called for free presidential elections in a watered-down communique that avoided mention of President Nicolas Maduro and his opposition rival Juan Guaido.

Following a meeting in Quebec today, the group said its representatives would "engage in intensive outreach and consultation" to bring about "free, fair and credible presidential elections" in addition to the parliamentary elections that are already supposed to take place at an unspecified date this year.

The Lima Group accented the need for deep-seated institutional reform.

"This process must include an independent National Electoral Council, an un-biased Supreme Court, international support and observation, full press freedom and political participation of all Venezuelans," the group said.

The declaration sets a high bar for Maduro, who controls all governing institutions and routinely cracks down on dissent.

The Lima Group does not recognize Maduro as president, deeming his May 2018 re-election to be fraudulent. The group instead recognizes Guaido, the speaker of the National Assembly, as interim president.

But today's communique shows that even Guaido's staunchest international supporters have lost faith in his initial US-backed strategy of removing the "usurper" Maduro, installing a transition government and holding elections.

Both sides in Venezuela's protracted conflict are now under pressure to make concessions: for Guaido's coalition of opposition parties, this means abandoning a hawkish strategy of boycotting elections in favor of electoral participation, with Maduro still in charge.

For his part, Maduro and his close associates would have to loosen their grip on power, release political prisoners, including Guaido's recently detained uncle, and allow Venezuelans to cast free votes.

A pivotal actor in the conflict is Maduro's patron, Russia, which the US targeted this week by sanctioning Russian state-controlled Rosneft Trading, the main lifter of Venezuelan crude since the White House levied oil sanctions on Venezuela in January 2019.

The Lima Group is comprised of Latin America countries and Canada. Several key members have lost enthusiasm for the Venezuelan cause since last year.

Chile has been beset by violent domestic protests since October 2019, while Argentina's new government has shifted into a non-interventionist camp. The most vocal regional support for Guaido comes from Colombia, where the largest share of Venezuela's 5mn migrants has fled in recent years.

For the US, which is not a part of the Lima Group, showing progress in resolving the protracted conflict has domestic ramifications for President Donald Trump's November 2020 re-election bid.

By Patricia Garip